- 1613 – Settlement of the Company of Jesus/Consecration of the Church.
- 1902 – the building of the staircase on the south side of the church
- 1916 – Vicar Pascoal Colaço undertakes renovation works under the authority of the Archbishop of Daman, Sebastião José Pereira.
- 20th century – Parish Priest Francisco de Azevedo adds the consecration date to the façade.
At the top of a hill of Salcette, lies almost untouched, the church dedicated to Our Lady of Bethlehem. Its façade/main entrance faces North and stands respectfully over the Vasai Creek, where once the Company of Jesus settled in 1613. Some works to the original structure are known, affecting mostly the reading of the façade in its original creation, but without compromising the fruition of the building. In 1916, Vicar Pascoal Colaço undertook a major renovation work, under the authority of the Archbishop of Daman, Sebastião José Pereira. This renovations work included the addition of the bays, the ceramic pavement, the wooden ceiling, and the side altars.
Alter
This altarpiece is located in the main chapel of the church. The authorship, along with the commission it is not known but from the artistic reading of the carvings, it is definitely of local manufacture.
It is an altarpiece devoted to a single theme ’ the most frequent typology: one body and one frame. This typology is frequent in the 17th century so it is possible that we may be looking at the original altarpiece from the church foundation.
It is built singly of carved gilded and polychrome wood. The pair of three columns present us with a convex perspective, giving total focus to the single tribune that holds the statue of Our Lady.
The entablature is continuous providing this altarpiece with a superb attic
that follows perfectly the perspective given by the columns. The composition of the attic, with the breaking of
the reading given by the three voussoirs (see Figure 6 Voussoir lower portion) and 9 Voussoir (higher portion)), positions this altarpiece among one of the most canonical exemplars of the territory of the ancient North Province.
The Eucharistic theme
The twisted columns and inner pilaster (that surrounds the central and only tribune) depict the entire version of the eucharistic theme: grapes, vine leafs, phoenix, and putti, placing the building of this altarpiece in the first half of the 17th century and characteristic of the baroque style.
The meaning behind the symbols
Vine leafs and grapes – In Christian iconography, the vine is mentioned several times in the Holy Scriptures. It is a symbol of Jesus Christ based on a quoted passage “I am the vine”.
Phoenix – a royal bird symbolizing renewal and in Christianity symbolizing resurrection, is also a symbol of Christ.
Putto– not to be mistaken by cherubim the guardians of the throne of God from the first order of angels in the celestial hierarchy represented in the full figure of small winged children. Putti on the other hand are spiritual beings usually depicted in the form of small children but without wings. In this altarpiece, like many of the kind from the same artistic period, the putti are surrounded by vine leafs – in the columns – and by acanthus in the rest of the altarpiece composition.
Taken from the paper of Mónica Esteves Reis